Plastic shopping bag ban extended to most stores in Ukiah, county

The throw-away plastic shopping bag became illegal on Tuesday, Jan. 7, in almost all stores in Ukiah and the unincorporated County. It already happened Dec. 10 in Fort Bragg.

The plastic bag ban took effect a year ago at supermarkets and drug stores and now will be extended to include every class of retail stores except take-out restaurants. And restaurants may be included in the future since both Fort Bragg, Ukiah and the county are considering amending their ordinances to add them.

The plastic bag ordinances now cover all of Mendocino County with the exception of the City of Willits, which hasn't taken action.

Under the ordinances, "single-use" plastic bags can't be given out at the checkstands. Paper bags are allowed, but the store must recover its cost for the paper bag by a minimum charge of 10 cents each.

The purpose of the ordinances is to reduce plastic bag litter and encourage shoppers to bring their own re-usable bag.

There are now 90 cities and counties in California that have plastic bag bans. There are two key reasons for the ordinances. The first is to stop these throw-away bags from becoming ugly roadside litter that harms wildlife and degrades the environment both on land and sea. The second is to cut down on the plastic bags that are jamming the sort lines at our recycling facilities.

The plastic bag ban applies only to "carry-out" bags given out at the checkstand. Plastic produce, bread, pharmacy or other plastic bags used earlier in the store aren't affected.

The Mendocino Solid Waste Authority has sent out two mailers to retail stores to alert them to the ordinances. Violators are subject to city or county fines of up to $500 per violation and can also be sued by either the city or county or by any private citizen.

Violations can be reported to the Mendocino Solid Waste Authority at 468-9710.

During the first year of the ordinances, no citations were issued to the supermarkets or drug stores that were affected. We had immediate and universal compliance in Fort Bragg, Ukiah and County.

More information about the bag ordinances is available at http://MendoRecycle.org/bags.html or by calling the Mendocino Solid Waste Authority at 468-9710.